Yes, Romney Perjured Himself

Yes, Romney Perjured Himself

The claim that he committed a felony by falsely reporting his role at Bain Capital under oath is what has really gotten under Romney's skin. But it seems pretty clear to me that he signed a federal financial disclosure form, under the penalty of perjury, saying he had not been involved "in any way" with Bain after he left for Utah in February 1999. That's a strong statement. And it is directly undercut by Romney's own statement in his 2002 attempt to prove residency to run for governor:

Romney testified that “there were a number of social trips and business trips that brought (him) back to Massachusetts, board meetings” while he was running the Olympics. He added that he remained on the boards of several companies, including the Lifelike Co., in which Bain Capital held a stake until 2001...

“He succeeded in that three-year period in restoring confidence in the Olympic Games, closing that disastrous deficit and staging one of the most successful Olympic Games ever to occur on US soil,” said Peter L. Ebb from Ropes & Gray, (his lawyer at the 2002 hearing).

“Now while all that was going on, very much in the public eye, what happened to his private and public ties to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? And the answer is they continued unabated just as they had.”

So the question of whether Romney committed a felony in his financial disclosure form is a very real one - because Romney and Romney's lawyer provide the strongest evidence that it was perjury. Now we have more contemporaneous evidence that Romney perjured himself:

During the 2002 hearing — in a remark that has not been previously reported — Romney said that after he departed Bain in February 1999 he went through a transition period regarding his work in Boston.

When a lawyer challenging his eligibility asked Romney, "Did you remain more or less continuously in Salt Lake City from February '99 to the end of the year," Romney answered: "Actually, there was some transition away from my work in Boston for the first few months and then I pretty much stayed there after." Trying to clarify this, the lawyer, after referring to this "transition," asked, "So from February through the end of the year you were pretty much full-time out in Utah, right?" Romney replied: "Well again, the beginning of the year was a good deal of time back and forth, but towards the last half of the year it was pretty much exclusively in Utah."

If there was a good deal of time back and forth in the first few months and some business conducted all the way through to December ("pretty much exclusively"), and if Romney's own lawyer tells an inquiry that Romney's work for Bain "continued unabated just as they had," then it is incontrovertibly true that Romney's statement under oath that he was not involved "in any way" in Bain business after February 1999 was a lie under oath.

16. his claims from when he ran for Gov contradict the 2011 filing

because back then he was trying to portray himself as a Mass resident, and he stated in testimony that the reason for his return was to run several of Bain's companies. And his attorney stated -- also under oath -- that he was still running Bain (or words to that effect).

15. Apparently there are sworn statements in writing to the FEC and others to the SEC

17. It's obvious they can't both be true. He lied (perjured himself) on ONE of those filings.

The problem is, if the feds prosecute, it will look political. We're getting plenty of mileage out of this without prosecuting right now anyway. You don't have to be a lawyer to see the these two statements can't both be true. Thus, just by bringing them to light, they serve their purpose.

It would be sweet to see him prosecuted after the election, but it probably won't happen then either. It would smack of political retribution. They may jail opposition party candidates in dictatorships, but we strive to have peaceful political contests where the stakes are just winning or losing the election, not your life or liberty. Of course, they did go after John Edwards...but he was in the same party as those in power, so it did not look like retribution.

19. It will take a couple years to prosecute

Including enpanelling a Grand Jury (the proceedings of which could itself take over a year given how much and how complex his network of Bain interactions were). So he would safely be forgotten by the masses as another also-ran, with the result probably occurring well after 2016. Meanwhile, he'll go through everyday with that hanging over him.

20. if evidence of criminal behavior

is uncovered during the course of a campaign then the behavior ought to be prosecuted.
political candidates ought to be held to the highest standards of behavior and used as examples when they break the law.